The University conundrum

Tom Hamlin
Researcher
BBC North West

Record numbers of students have applied for University in 2009 but will there be enough places to go around?

Elaine Dunkley reports on how universities and their potential students are coping in the recession.

We are in a recession, government spending is stretched and there are warnings that it is time to make a choice.

That choice could be between further increases to tuition fees or cuts in places available to students.

The government's controversial top up fees were introduced in 2006.

Since then, consideration of any further increase in fees has been met with massive opposition.

Students this year are paying £3,145 in fees, with that set to rise year on year at a rate of 2.5%.

Demand for university places

Despite the cost, more people than ever want to go to university.

The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) deals with all applications to university.

It says that applications for the forthcoming academic year are up 8.8% compared to 2008.

The University of Manchester - a popular student choice

The government says it is spending a record £7.5bn on higher education and funding an extra 10,000 places.

It states further that funding has increased by 25% over the last decade.

But the universities say they are struggling to cope with the huge increase in student numbers.

Most of the North West universities we spoke to say they have been told by the Higher Education Funding Council to freeze the number of places available - despite the rising level of applications.

Now the fear is that many students will fail to get a place in September 2009.

Struggling to meet student demand

UCAS suggests that the number of extra places available is in fact far less than the government says - closer to 3,000.

But whether it is 3,000 or 10,000, it is not nearly enough to cope with the demand this coming year.

Life on campus - there has been a boom in student applications

The BBC surveyed a number of Vice Chancellors earlier in 2009.

It revealed a wide range in the scale of any potential rise in fees - from £4,000 to £20,000 per year!

Two thirds of those surveyed believed fees had not deterred applicants from poorer families.

The government is set to review tuition fees in the Autumn 2009.

Difficult job market

At the same time students are graduating and attempting to enter an ever more scarce job market.

So whether you are trying to get in or trying to get out of university it is a difficult time all round.

The Politics Show this week looks at the issues affecting students to be, as well as those on their way out.

Watch the Politics Show North West on BBC One at 12:00 noon on Sunday.